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Dell Corp. Founder, Chairman and CEO Michael Dell Tuesday said the company's move to tightly integrate its channel business into its sales organization is designed to accelerate channel sales growth.

"When we started the channel program back in 2007 -- because it was a relatively new effort -- it kind of made sense to have it as a separate organization," said Dell in an exclusive interview with CRN. "We are really proud of the work that our partners have done growing that. It is now 35 percent of our commercial business, and it is time to integrate it in. I think it creates even more opportunities," Dell said.

Dell's efforts to streamline its sales organization are not exclusive to the North American market, he said.

"We are doing this not just in North America but the whole world. This simplifies the whole structure. It allows us to go faster," Dell said. "It is all about growth."

Dell said the changes are going to lead to "enormous" new opportunities for partners as Dell works hand in hand with them to grow sales. "We are going to be working even more closely with our partners to increase our reach and coverage," he said. "Our inside teams and our channel teams are going to be working even more closely together. I think it is a fantastic step forward. I am super excited!"

The net impact for partners: "Faster, easier, better and bigger," said Dell.

Cook replaces longtime worldwide channel chief Greg Davis, who started the official Dell channel program nearly seven years ago and helped build it into a $15 billion business, about 26 percent of Dell's $57 billion in annual sales. Davis is moving on to a new role as vice president of software and peripherals at Dell.

Under the shakeup, the channel and the company's direct sales organization come under the same sales leadership with Rodrigues at the helm in North America.

"Dell's channel partners are now an integral part of the way that we communicate and work with our customers globally, and their feedback on our strategy and Go-To-Market is extremely important as we move forward as a private company," said Rodrigues in a statement emailed to CRN. "Our new structure came about partly in response to feedback from the partners and is designed to simplify decision making and further optimize our operations. We have strong and experienced leaders in our channel team, and I look forward to working with them as we move forward with the evolution of our robust PartnerDirect program."

XChange Solution Provider 2015 is finally upon us and the timing couldn't be better. The premier channel event is happening March 1-3 in Dallas, bringing together 225 solution provider decision makers from across North America. CRN is at the event to provide news, analysis and a firsthand take from partners.